User blog:Alemon97/DEATH BATTLE! Season 3 Review
Well, now that Season 3 has wrapped up, time to give my thoughts. Get ready to hear some popular, unpopular, or any other opinion in between. Also, I'm not gonna do any numerical scores, cuz, it's really more trouble than it's worth. Instead, I'll give ratings of "Good", "Meh...", or "Bad" after I give my overall thoughts on an episode. And I'll stress again that this is all my opinion, if you disagree with me on some level, then that's fine, opinions are opinions. Enough talk, let's do this! Episode 58: Dante VS Bayonetta 'PROS' *GORGEOUS animation *The falling clock scene *The witty dialogue between Dante and Bayonetta *Good analysis, for the most part... *Some good jokes *Great music choices *Voice acting was pretty damn good *I'll be honest, I actually liked when Trish and Jeanne appeared to help their friends, even if it was just a promotion for DBX. *The command prompts that appeared on screen 'CONS' *Can't say I agree with the results, especially after talking to WarpyNeko930 about it on the Fanon wiki *...but I can't help but feel like Bayo's analysis was a bit...lacking *Dante's weaker, yet he blocked a punch from Madama Butterfly in the fight... Doesn't that seem a little, I dunno, odd? *Raindrops...really? *Some weird animation errors 'Overall' Hot damn, this was an AWESOME episode, and one hell of a way to start Season 3. While I don't really agree with the results and some of the analysis felt lacking, the fight was just too damn good for me to really care. And dear god, just LOOK at the animation for this episode! I'll definitely give this one a rewatch several times in the future, even with its shortcomings. 'Rating' *''Good'' Episode 60: Ratchet &-Wait, do I really? Ugh, fine...Episode 59: Bowser VS Ganon... 'PROS' *The sand joke *The tennis scene *Ganon's analysis was okay *The music's nice 'CONS' *The fight animation, while decent, was honestly pretty boring. Even playing this matchup in a game of Smash would be more exciting than watching this shit. *THEY BOUGHT THE F***ING HOLY WEAPONS NLF *Bowser himself...as in, his analysis is REALLY lacking, save for some feats *The clown car honestly feels pointless considering what follows *This scene(10:58 to 11:01)...just NO!!! *How they don't even talk about Dry Bowser until the end *The reasoning for Bowser's "death" *I didn't really get that JoJo's Bizzare Adventure reference *Aside from the aforementioned sand joke, the jokes just don't really hit the landing for me 'Overall' Dear God, I fucking hate this fight, I really do. This is bar none, my absolute MOST HATED Death Battle of all fucking time, hands down, no contest! I just cannot stand the dumbass reasoning behind Ganon's undeserving victory and Bowser's lackluster analysis in this fight! The reasoning for Ganon's victory, especially, is just fucking inexcusable! Even when Bowser clearly had the edge against Ganon in every possible area (excluding intelligence), they still went and bought the fucking Holy Weapons Fallacy bullshit! As far as I'm aware, nothing in the Zelda lore even mentions that Holy Weapons are the ONLY means to outright kill Ganon, it's pure bullshit made up by Zelda fans! UGH, it's so stupid! Throw in a lame as hell fight into the mix, and you got yourself a recipe for disaster. And if you like this episode, then that's fine, but I can't like it for what it is! Lastly, I'm calling out Wolverine-Man for his unwarranted criticism of me not having any reason to hate this fight, when all I did was state my opinion outright. Dude, let me just say that there's a difference between stating that I hate this fight and explaining WHY I hate this fight! Just because I state that I outright hate this episode doesn't mean I don't have any reason to! So yeah, overall, this episode can friggin' blow me! Ugh, next fight please! 'Rating' *''Bad'' Episode 60: Ratchet & Clank VS Jak & Daxter 'PROS' *Subtle details in the analysis (i.e.: Has a vendetta against wodden crates, Spoke his first words at age 17) *Analysis was pretty decent... *Solid verdict and reasoning *Jokes galore *Animation was pretty cool *The scene where Daxter gets sucked into the Vortex Cannon *The climax 'CONS' *...althought it focuses much more on Ratchet & Jak than it does Clank & Daxter *Voice acting is off, ESPECIALLY Todd Haberkorn as Daxter *Some weird sound mixing issues *No Groovitron in the fight 'Overall' This was a pretty damn good episode. While the analysis primarily focuses on Ratchet & Jak and I feel that there was a missed opportunity by not having the Groovitron in the fight, the episode had a plethora of jokes and a cool enough fight to keep me entertained. And while I'm not much of a PlayStation gamer, I'll still rewatch this episode every now and then for a few good laughs. 'Rating' *''Good'' Episode 61: Flash VS Quicksilver 'PROS' *Ahhh! *Analysis was good *Some interesting trivia from both combatants *The witty banter between Flash and Quicksilver *How the fight took only like, 2 seconds in real time *Flash's reaction to Quicksilver's death *Results were correct... 'CONS' *...but obvious stomp is obvious *Fight animation was really slow. A bit ironic considering it's a battle between comic book speedsters. *Animation looked fuzzy at some points, namely in some closeups, kinda reminded me of Ben's animations in Season 1. *Voice acting was a little weird *Could have used a little more fisticuffs *Climax kinda loses its epicness when Flash just keeps striking Quicksilver in the same directions while in the Speed Force *What was the point of the Captain America cameo again? 'Overall' Sooo, how do I put this? I just don't really care about this episode. When you consider the massive speed gap, this fight really only has one correct answer. This is probably the biggest stomp in Death Battle history thus far, and my second least favorite Marvel VS DC matchup in the series, second only to Batman VS Captain America. I'm sure this episode has its fans, but for me, this is just the meh-est fight of the season, maybe even the series. Not the best, but not really the worst either, just average. 'Rating' *''Meh...'' 'Episode 62: Joker VS Sweet Tooth '''PROS *Details in the analysis such as "Iranian UN Ambassador" and "Best friend: a paper bag". *While I'm at it, analysis was pretty good *How the Jokermobile in this fight is actually a stolen Batmobile with a colorful paintjob *Animation was good... *Voice acting was great, especially Lucas Schuneman as Joker *The car chase in the first half of the fight *Some good laughs in the fight here and there *The creepy-ass death 'CONS' *...but it's not really my favorite *Not the best reasoning for a verdict *How the speed booster button just suddenly appears on the Jokermobile's wheel *How DOES Sweeth Tooth manage to hear Joker over all that stomping from the Sweet Bot, and from a few feet away no less? *The animation error of the police car mixing in with the plants at the end 'Overall' This was a pretty cool, and somewhat creepy, episode. While the reasoning for the outcome was questionable at best, and the scene where Sweet Tooth hears Joker over all that stomping doesn't make much sense, the fight was entertaining enough for me to give it a pass. I especially like Joker in this fight, he gets a lot good laughs in every moment of it. 'Rating' *'Good 'Episode 63: Mewtwo VS Shadow '''PROS *Mewtwo's analysis was alright *Some funny moments *I Am All of Mewtwo is a pretty cool music track *Arguably correct outcome... 'CONS' *...but with really bad reasoning *Aside from a few feats, Shadow's analysis is almost completely note for note from Vegeta VS Shadow *For an SGC fight, the animation is pitifully mediocre *Barely anything happens *Really, REALLY slowly paced *Anyone else notice the big green line in certain scenes? *Voice acting is pretty lame *This makes Vegeta VS Shadow look Oscarworthy. Yeah, I said it! Come at me, bro! 'Overall' Honestly, I don't even know how people would even think that this is actually BETTER than Vegeta VS Shadow. In fact, after watching both this and Vegeta VS Shadow back-to-back, I'd argue that this episode is worse. The abilities for both combatants here just don't feel properly showcased here. Plus, the action here is really, REALLY lame, especially the second half, which probably could've benefited from being about a minute longer with both Mewtwo and Shadow in their super forms. Additionally, while I don't mind Mewtwo winning, I don't really find Mewtwo winning via mindwipe to be very believable, considering that it usually resorts to brute force in combat. In the end, this episode was just a real disappoinment to me. Definitely not a match I'll be rewatching anytime soon. 'Rating' *''Bad'' 'Episode 64: Meta VS Carolina '''PROS *Feels like a genuine crossover instead of a lazy cash-in *The play on the title of Batman v Superman: Dawn on Justice *'The funny moments with Boomstick and Grif in between the analysis *Some interesting analysis *Some good jokes... *Voice acting is good *Great animation *Slingshot - Trocadero is a pretty dope track *The aftermath with Sarge and Boomstck '''CONS *'Unless it's a battle royale, having a fight between characters from the same series fight is an immediate con *Can't say that this fight got me into Red vs. Blue. I dunno, the Halo aesthetic just doesn't really appeal to me. *Could go either way, honestly *We don't really see much of Meta's A.I.'s in the fight *...But some "meh-ish" jokes, as well 'Overall' This episode is a pretty damn good one. While it didn't get me into Red vs. Blue and I'm not quite into this fight as alot of other people are, I still had some fun with this. Do I think it ranks among my favorite DEATH BATTLE! episodes? No, but I do admire the work that was put into the episode, as well as making a fun crossover with another web series. 'Rating' *''Good'' Episode 65: Cammy VS Sonya 'PROS' *A couple good jokes *I normally don't judge voice clips, but they're actually used pretty creatively at the beginnig of the fight *Fight was okay *Music was dope 'CONS' *Analysis was pretty lacking, especially on Cammy's end *They use Test Your Might to try to justify Sonya's "superior strength". *I normally don't care about sprites, but I'm not a fan of what they used here *Sonya's tech felt really highballed *Aren't Cammy's foes actually more powerful than Sonya's? *The background music in Sonya's analysis was pretty loud *The brief flashes in the beginning of the fight when Kano uses his machine gun kinda hurt my eyes 'Overall' I originally liked this episode back in my first viewing, but after rewatching it for my Season 3 review, yeah this was really, kinda, bad...I could buy Sonya having more experience and being a better tactician, but the fact that they used Test Your Might to even try to say the she is stronger than Cammy just screams "asspull". Additionally, the way they tell us that Sonya has fought a more impressive line-up of foes is really stretching it, especially when you consider the power gap between the characters in each of their respective franchises. This is definitely one round that really should have gone to Street Fighter. 'Rating' *''Bad'' 'Episode 66: Tracer VS Scout '''PROS *11 lbs of sugar in Bonk! Atomic Punch was an interesting fact *Scout reacting to Tracer's ass *Interactions between the characters were pretty good *Voice acting was pretty decent if I'm being honest *The Chronal Accelerator prompts that appear on screen *"Ah c'mon, gimme a..." (BOOM!) *Mortified (The music track for this episode) 'CONS' *Analysis was pretty meh, to be honest *Calling Scout's best durability feat (getting hit by 3 rockets at once) an outlier was pretty BS *Scout could have used some more of his weapons *Fight felt pretty short *Not really sure if I agree or not *For a Torrian animation, the action was kinda underwhelming *Scout's speed felt pretty nerfed 'Overall' I've heard that this episode has a pretty bad rep with some members of the wiki, but after rewatching this episode and looking at the Pros & Cons, all I can say is that, honestly, this episode really isn't AS bad as some people on the wiki make it out to be. Does that make it good? Well, no, not really, there are some things I don't like. But still, there is some genuinely good stuff in it, such as the interactions between Tracer and Scout, and the latter's reaction to his demise. But yeah, those problems I mentioned before are still legitamite problems, like I said, the animation isn't that spectacular and Scout did feel pretty nerfed. I suppose it may have to do with that I'm not really interested in FPS games and that I in particular never really followed neither Overwatch or Team Fortress 2 closely. In the end, this battle, to me at least, is just a harmless waste of time. 'Rating' *''Meh...'' 'Episode 67: Ken VS Terry '''PROS *Analysis was pretty good *Boomstick's geese joke *Nice callback to Vader VS Doom *Fire, wind, water, heart, GO TERRY! *Fast paced, blood pumping animation *"My leg!" *"So Eliza's single now, right?" *Solid outcome and reasoning 'CONS' *Fight was a little short, to be honest *The reasoning for Terry's superior speed seems a bit weird. I mean, Ryu's dodged bullets, so wouldn't Ken have comparable speeds? *Reused music from R&C VS J&D 'Overall' After the previous disappointing 2D fights this season, all I can say is that I had a lot of fun watching this. While the fight was short and had reused music, the fight more than makes up for it by being a ton of fun to watch. And while it sucks that another Street Fighter character died this season, all I can say is that Terry's victory was definitely a well deserved one. 'Rating' *''Good'' 'Episode 68: Amy Rose VS Ramona Flowers '''PROS *For once, we have an episode with a 2D fight that's 15 minutes long *Analysis was good *"Forgot my pants on my first day" *"Justin...Beaver....really?" *The Night of Nights remix *Animation is pretty good *Am I an asshole for laughing at Scott's misery? Not that I hate Scott Pilgrim or anything. *Fairly reasonable outcome 'CONS' *'Camera was a little hard to follow in the beginning of the fight *A little weird how Ramona didn't get the Power of Love *This is just a nitpick, but: Ramona's death could have used some coin sounds effects, considering she turned into Canadian money *Speaking of which, the lack of voice clips is weird 'Overall' This episode was pretty damn good. While it's weird how Ramona didn't get the Power of Love and the lack of voice clips is strange, the analysis for this fight was pretty decent overall and the fight was an entertaining watch, even if it did feel a little bit slow paced (looking at you Mewtwo VS Shadow). Also, after seeing Amy's analysis, I kinda wanna watch that episode of Sonic Boom ''with Justin Beaver. 'Rating' *''Good 'Episode 69: Hulk VS Doomsday '''PROS *Great jokes *Subtle details in the analysis (i.e.: "*NOT A DICK" and "Huggability level: Cactus") *Great analysis *The inclusion of "Puny god." in Hulk's analysis, that scene will never not be funny *For being one of the younger members of the ScrewAttack crew, Parker Bohon actually does a pretty good Hulk voice *Great animation. On a side note, someone make a gif of Doomsday kicking through the bus! Please? *Kickass music tracks *Hulk's comments towards Doomsday *Some people complain about the lack of destruction, but really, look at the scene where World Breaker Hulk and Doomsday literally DESTROY South America with a single punch collision! That's all the destruction you need. *The climax *Dear God, that death was so brutal, and I LOVE IT! *I really like the extended reasoning for Doomsday's win, considering how close this match really was. 'CONS' *Kinda feels like they downplayed Hulk's healing factor and World Breaker Hulk a little bit, just a little. *The reasoning for Doomsday's speed advantage seems a little odd. I mean, just how rare are FTL fighters in the Marvel Universe? *Maybe the climax could have gone on for a few seconds longer? *The multi colored people in this seem out of place. 'Overall' Oh my God, I don't just like this episode, I LOVE this episode. Any problems I have with this are either small or entirely negligible. The analysis for this episode was great, the animation was top notch, and the reasoning for Doomsday's victory over Hulk in this episode is just so sound that I can't really argue with them here. I don't even know what else to say, this episode is just so GOOD. So yeah, Hulk VS Doomsday is easily one of my favorite episodes of the series and my favorite 3D fight this entire season, better than Dante VS Bayonetta I might add. It had great analysis, it had great jokes, it had great animation, it's just great! 'Rating' *''Good'' 'Episode 70: Zoro VS Erza '''PROS *We've seen anime characters fight before, but never against each other, so the fact that this is the first "anime vs. anime" themed fight in the show is pretty cool *Boomstick's comments on Erza's Seduction Armor *Analysis was decent *Voice acting is pretty good *Great animation, probably my favorite 2D animation of Season 3 *Some pretty funny moments in the fight itself *Zoro taunting Erza about "true strength" *The aftermath, in which Zoro STILL gets lost after his fight with Erza *The fight music's nice *Reasonable outcome 'CONS' *'Some of the sound design is off, particularly when Zoro sliced the house the beginning of the fight *That swan boner in Erza's analysis...what has been seen cannot be unseen *Like Ken VS Terry, the fight felt a tad on the short side *The sprite when Zoro gets up and taunts Erza looks super pixelated 'Overall' For Death Battle's first ever "Anime vs. Anime" themed fight, this was a damn great one. While the battle was a tad short, it was still a pretty entertaining watch. And after watching this episode, maybe I should expand my library of what anime to watch besides Dragon Ball. Also, Zoro stopping himself to put out the fire Erza got on him was just friggin' hilarious. 'Rating' *''Good'' 'Episode 71: Deadpool VS Pinkie Pie '''PROS *Deadpool's analysis is alright... *How Deadpool's Feats section metions that his movie is the biggest opening weekend for an R-rated film ever *Wiz erasing Deadpool *Boomstick talking about his "cutiemark" *Pinkie's analysis is good *Voice acting is good *"NO! None of that. Shame on YOU!" *SO. MUCH. FOURTH WALL BREAKAGE! *Decent animation *How Deadpool and Pinkie solve their match peacefully, mess with previous episodes, meet the ScrewAttack crew in the real world, and Wiz and Boomstick declare themselves the losers 'CONS' *...although some of it is pretty recycled *As a Season Finale, this is a really bad choice *I gotta be honest, I didn't laugh quite as hard as I did with Deadpool VS Deathstroke *While Deadpool and Pinkie going through previous episodes was cool, they don't really do much with it. *Gotta be honest: Considering the premise of the show, the ending for this episode in particular kinda defeats the purpose. 'Overall' One word: Hilarious. While I wasn't particularly excited for this episode and it didn't get as many laughs from me compared to Deadpool's previous episode, this was still an entertainingly hilarious match to watch and seeing Deadpool and Pinkie meet the ScrewAttack crew in real life was damn funny. I'll definitely come back to watching this one, should I need a good laugh. 'Rating' *''Good'' Statistics And that is every single episode of DEATH BATTLE! Season 3 reviewed, so here's the statistics: *9 Good episodes *2 Meh... episodes *3 Bad episodes Bottom 5 #Bowser VS Ganon - I know that some of the other episodes listed here are worse objectively, but none of them have gone so far as to rub me so the wrong way and get me legitamitely angry, something this episode finally managed to accomplish. All resentment I hold towards this episode since my first viewing still holds true. I will never defend this episode, for as long as I live! FUCK! THIS! DEATH BATTLE! #Mewtwo VS Shadow - A matchup that sounded great on paper, but fails in execution. #Cammy VS Sonya - A matchup with an okay fight, but ultimately lousy reasoning. #Flash VS Quicksilver - The analysis may be interesting and the results may be sound, but it's an overall boring, predictable episode that just felt like filler. #Tracer VS Scout - The only reasons this is so low is because a) I'm not much of an FPS guy, and b) there were some genuinely funny moments. Aside from that, this episode was pretty dull. Top 5 #Hulk VS Doomsday - The attention to detail and great action is what ultimately got this episode the top spot. I could watch this fight a million times and never get tired of it. How it ranks compared to other Marvel vs. DC fights, I don't know. Well, definitely higher than Flash VS Quicksilver, but it's a really damn great one. #Zoro VS Erza - For the first "Anime vs. Anime" fight, this was pretty damn cool. After this, I kinda wanna watch One Piece and Fairy Tail now. #A tie between Ken VS Terry and Amy Rose VS Ramona Flowers - Yeah, I couldn't really decide between these two since I like both episodes a whole lot. But ya know what, this is my list, so no one can tell me what to do. #Dante VS Bayonetta - While the verdict was pretty ballsy, the animation saved this episode a whole lot. It's another example of how an episode with a faulty outcome can still deliver a pretty kickass fight. #Deadpool VS Pinkie Pie - While I'm probably in the minority for saying that I prefer Deadpool VS Deathstroke over this, I can still acknowledge how funny it was seeing Deadpool and Pinkie breaking the fourth wall. Final Thoughts After seeing all of the episodes, all I can say is that Season 3...is a bit of a mixed bag. There are definitely more Good episodes than Meh... or Bad episodes to be sure, especially in comparison to the first season, but if I'm being honest, they're not quite as good as the stuff that came Seasons 1 and 2, especially Season 2. Don't get me wrong: the stuff that's good is really friggin' good, but the bad stuff is also really, REALLY bad, especially in regards to my Top 3 least favorite episodes of the season. So overall, it's better than Season 1 for sure, but when pitted against Season 2, it just pales in comparison. Here's hoping that Season 4 will be better. And that about wraps it up for my thoughts on Season 3. Did you enjoy reading this retrospective? Do you agree or disagree with me? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. Anyway, that's it for me. Alemon97 out. Category:Blog posts